Corsair 3500X ARGB PC Case Review
Thermal Performance
Cooling Performance
Thermal performance is an essential factor for any PC case. Your system may look great from the outside, but all of that is for nought if your PC has the internal temperature of an oven. Your PC case needs enough airflow for your components to remain cool under load and to prevent any form of thermal throttling. For our test, we used the following hardware using fixed fan speeds (so that only the case and its included fans can influence thermal performance).
Intel i9-9700K @4.8GHz at 1.2V
ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming @ 100% Current Capacity/ LL lvl16
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition @ 9V via Fan Speed Reducer
Nvidia GTX 980 Reference @ 60% Fixed Fan Speed
Corsair LP Vengeance LP (Grey) @ 3200MHz
Corsair MP500 M.2 NVMe SSD
Corsair RM550X Power Supply
The graph below showcases Delta temperatures with a controlled ambient temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.
1000 RPM Fan Test
When testing Corsair’s 3500X RGB, we added two extra fans to the chassis. One fan is at the rear of the case, and another is at the top. We expect users of this case to install a similar set of fans (or more) to deliver more optimal airflow. After all, using three fans to pump air into a case is of little benefit if it isn’t well directed.
Overall, the 3500X performs similarly to other cases of this type. CPU thermals are decent, but GPU performance is a little lacking. Blower-style GPUs do not work well with cases with this modern/unusual airflow pattern. That said, most modern graphics cards today use axial fans, not blowers. Regardless, it is a factor worth considering if you have a blower-style graphics card.
Like all cases of this style, its intended configuration is with an all-in-one CPU liquid cooling radiator mounted at the top. As such, our testing configuration is deeply sub-optimal for this chassis. Even so, it is adequately cooled and runs as normal. Like many modern PC cases, you need to select the right hardware to get the most from your PC enclosure.
Max Fan Speed Test
With its fans pushed to their maximum speeds, the Corsair 3500X pushes further up our case cooling charts. That said, it remains far from the top. This case puts aesthetics at the forefront, and as mentioned before, operates at its best with a different hardware configuration than our test kit. An all-in-one liquid cooling solution will offer users a more optimal case airflow pattern. Beyond that, a GPU with axial fans will operate better with such a cooling configuration than a GPU with a blower-style heatsink.
